ZIM will suspend its Gulf Toucan (ZGT) service linking the US Gulf with the East Coast of South America, with the loop's final southbound sailing leaving Houston on 24 October 2026, according to DynaLiners.

The closure removes a direct, 17-call rotation that tied Houston, Miami and the Caribbean to Brazil's Santos–Rio corridor and the River Plate. That's a real capacity withdrawal on a niche trade — not a headline Asia lane, but one where shippers now have one fewer direct option and a longer routing through transshipment hubs.

What exactly is being closed?

The ZGT ran a long loop: Houston – Miami – Kingston – Cartagena – Santos – Montevideo – Buenos Aires – Navegantes – Itapoa – Paranagua – Santos – Rio de Janeiro – Cartagena – Kingston – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston.

Two voyages close the book. The southbound end comes with the Loncomilla on voyage 036/S, departing Houston on 24 October 2026 and finishing its final East Coast South America calls on 19 November. The northbound end comes earlier: the Navios Amarillo on voyage 067/N leaves Rio de Janeiro on 4 November and reaches the Caribbean on 19 November. After those dates, the string is gone.

What replaces the coverage?

ZIM isn't abandoning the cargo. It's re-routing it through its own network, which tells you the carrier wants to keep the freight but not the ship deployment.

• Cargo between Houston and the Mediterranean, West Coast South America and the Caribbean will move on a dedicated ZIM-operated feeder via Kingston and Cartagena.
• Inbound cargo to Miami shifts to the ZIM Colibri Express (ZCX).
• Shipments from Miami to the Caribbean will run on the ZIM South Lotus (ZSL).

So the ports stay served. What changes is the product: direct port pairs on a single string become hub-and-spoke routings with a transshipment in Jamaica or Colombia, and the schedule risk that comes with any extra leg.

What does this change for shippers and forwarders?

Three practical consequences follow from the suspension.

First, transit times. Houston shippers moving to Santos, Buenos Aires or Montevideo previously had a direct call. They now feed through Kingston or Cartagena, which adds days and adds a connection point where boxes can miss a link.

Second, booking patterns. BCOs and forwarders with contracts tied to the ZGT string will need to renegotiate onto the ZCX, the ZSL or the feeder product — or test competing carriers still running US Gulf–ECSA direct services.

Third, capacity on the trade. One loop off a thin lane tightens the supply of direct slots, and that can firm spot rates for remaining direct capacity if demand holds. DynaLiners reported the suspension but gave no vessel-count or TEU figure for the string, so the exact capacity pulled isn't public.

For ZIM, the logic is familiar: consolidate coverage onto fewer assets, push niche flows through hubs the carrier already operates, and protect vessel capacity for lanes with better returns. Kingston and Cartagena are established ZIM transshipment points, so the feeder solution uses infrastructure the carrier already pays for.

Shippers on the US Gulf–East Coast South America trade have until late October 2026 before the last Loncomilla sailing, which leaves a booking window to test the replacement routings — or to lock alternatives while direct capacity still exists.